Lenovo GCM16 Product Manual page 5

The GCM16 and GCM32 both support two independent local users as shown in Figure 3. One local user
attaches to the VGA and USB ports on the console switch as shown in Figure 2. The second local user
attaches to a tiered (slave) console switch (see "Tiered consoles" below for more information). These two
ports are independent of one another (that is, not pre-emptive or shared). This configuration allows you to
place a console in every rack, for local connectivity to those servers complete with local KVM access, plus
tier up to a master console that has local KVM access to all the servers attached to all attached console
switches.
Figure 3. Two local users in a tiered configuration
Local user connections:
Local displays are connected to the console switch using VGA analog connections. Keyboard and mouse
must be USB attached and two USB ports are provided for this purpose. Two additional USB ports are
provided for the attachment of devices such as optical drives or memory keys. These devices can be made
available on remote target systems provided Virtual Media Conversion Options are used to connect to
those target systems. Note, however, that the Virtual Media Conversion Option does not support chaining
of target systems.
Target systems:
The GCM16 has 16 target system ports (known as analog rack interface or ARI ports) and the GCM32 has
32 target system ports. These can be directly attached to systems with the appropriate USB or PS/2
conversion option connector on the end. These connections use standard CAT-5 cables. You can increase
the number of connected target systems by two methods: chaining or a tiered arrangement of switches
(more about these below). Both methods mean that each of the 16 or 32 ports will have multiple systems
connected to it. You can mix connection methods.
GCM16 and GCM32 Global Console Managers 5